To be a Malfoy
by LJLL
Summary: Rose is having some doubts about whether she's good enough to one day be a Malfoy herself. When Scorpius can't quite convince her, Astoria is left up to the duty. Coming from less than rich circumstances herself, Astoria knows what it's like.
1. Chapter 1

Rose didn't understand. They'd always had money. They were by no means posh, though. Her mother had always kept the family grounded in monetary matters. Her father had always, as far as she could remember, had a decent enough job where her family had the money to buy her and Hugo healthy birthday presents. Now that she turned sixteen, having just turned so the past day, as a matter of fact, she was becoming vastly more aware of the adult world. Including the reality of just about everything. But, she was thoroughly stumped, however.

Logically, she knew that her father, due to issues with payment, had to quit his job after his company had several check infractions where they'd failed to deliver his hard-earned money for jobs well done. And she thought it fully understandable. And she knew money was tighter now. But, really? They didn't have the money to buy her a birthday gift? What kind of hellish world were they living in?

Rose had always thought herself a competent individual. But she didn't understand.

She got up off her mattress, where she had been laying for the better part of an hour, trying and failing several times over to comprehend the situation and decided to pay her steady boyfriend of the past five months and twenty three days, Scorpius Malfoy, a visit. Even the mental mention of his name made her smile and made butterflies cocoon to life in her stomach.

She sighed in anticipation. Though she had no doubt Scorpius would help her through this conundrum, as he was quite skilled at solving conundrums, she suspected that they would also get to a bit of snogging during her visit.

She paced over to her dressed with sure feet and let Athena, her regal snowy owl, out of her cage, stroking her feathers softly as she thoughtfully wrote her letter to him.

'_Scorpius-  
I figured I'd pop over for a bit. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything.  
See you soon,  
-Rose'_

Opening her window, she paused briefly and watched Athena sail the wind currents in the direction of Malfoy Manor. Admittedly, it had taken her parents – her father especially – a bit of time to get used to the idea of her dating a Malfoy. But they'd both come around in their own time. Ron had actually proposed a "test" for Scorpius to determine if his intentions for his daughter were pure (he'd made him do some ridiculous stunt which involved talking to a rubber chicken in the middle of Diagon Alley). She snorted to herself as she hopped down the stairs at the memory. If their latest snog session was any indication, she should say not – his intentions were most definitely not pure. Not that she minded terribly in the least.

Laughing aloud merrily, reality all came crashing down on her when she came downstairs and saw he parents hunched over the table with a muggle device called a calculator and several documents of their payment history. Ron looked up at her approach, to which Hermione followed suit and called her name.

"Rose?"

All at once, Rose became panicked.

"Going to Scorpius'." She managed to choke out, her voice scratchy.

With that, she gave them a very forced smile that looked horribly like a grimace, grabbed a fist-full of floo powder, enunciated "Malfoy Manor", and vanished in a swirl of green flames.

She emerged from the fire place at said Manor, choking all the while. After the smoke cleared from her lungs in due time, she opened her curious brown eyes and was greeted by a wonderful sight. Scorpius Malfoy, seated in a black leather chair he'd turned to face the fire place, clad in a black button down top and flattering muggle jeans, apparently waiting for her.

She grinned. "So you got my owl then?"

"But of course." He responded. And, in one swift movement, the pair came together for a hug and a passionate kiss. When they broke apart, Rose was extremely pleased to discover that, amidst their kissing, she'd come to be deliciously pressed up against him in a standing position that was no less than compromising, her face angled toward his, his above average frame of 6' 2" towering over her own petite 5' 5" frame. She kissed him once more on the mouth and, albeit reluctantly, disentangled herself from him and intertwined their fingers.

The young couple wandered into the kitchen where Mrs. Astoria Malfoy was bending over a pot.

"Evening, Rose. Will you be joining us for dinner?"

Rose nodded. "If that is alright with you, Mrs. Malfoy, I'd love to."

Astoria nodded, officially concluding the conversation.

They then passed Draco in the study, who nodded at them. Rose took that to be a good thing. Admittedly, the Malfoys had taken to the news of their relationship better than the Weasleys. Though, not without some persuasion from Scorpius, who could be quite good at persuasion when he chose. The two then made their way into Scorpius' room, at which point Scorpius practically attacked her and proceeded to snog her senseless.

First he'd gone slowly with mostly chaste kisses, only teasing her. But then he'd done this thing with his tongue and Rose had had a hard time keeping her head after that.

When all was not said (as they were doing anything but talking) and done, as she _had_ come here for a reason, after all, she had taken a deep breath and stopped it before it could progress to wonderfully unfamiliar territory. Though not before giving him an apologetic kiss in which she hoped to make up for the lost minutes and memories.

So there they lay. Apparently, sometime during their adventures, she'd managed to come to sit on top of him. She smirked at her position of power, to which he appeared to be mildly frightened, if not all together expectant, at. From there, she'd decided to use him as her own personal pillow.

Climbing off of him, she rested her head on his chest, he laying on his back and she on her side. After some waggling on her part to discover a desired position for maximum comfort, during which Scorpius had become quite amused and had buried his face in the pillow above her head. As, apparently, it was all he could do to keep himself from bursting into hysterical laughter.

She poked him once playfully to reprimand him. Suddenly, lying nestled together, the mood became serious.

"I know you didn't come over here just to placate my wishes to snog you senseless." He quipped. "No matter how much I wish otherwise."

She giggled at that and hushed him, drawing a deep breath when she regained her wits he seemed so talented at stealing with the simplest of actions. Really, she was only stalling for time, as she had no idea how to word this. Eventually, she settled on:

"Scorpius, you've always had money, haven't you? Your family, I mean." Rose could already hear the frown in his response, and her suspicions were quickly confirmed as he actually did speak.

"Yes, I mean, I suppose we've always been rather well off. What with Father's fortune in the stock market. Why?"

It was difficult for Rose to swallow her pride, but she managed – though only after burying her face in his chest. "Dad's lost his job" was the muffled reply.

A soothing hand came to rest on the small of her back. "What happened?"

"I guess they weren't paying him properly for the work he did. He's found a new job now, and everything, though; but we didn't have the money to buy me a birthday present." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Rose feared she sounded like a spoiled child. However, she had no chance to amend herself before he responded.

His tone was teasing, but laced with an undertone of clear concern. "They didn't buy you a birthday present?" His mouth was deliciously close to her ear, "Merlin, that's terrible. Lucky thing I did." And with that, he got off the bed, pulled open a drawer (Rose hadn't bothered to move, so she only heard him moving around) and sat back down next to her. "Budge up," he told her, nudging her softly. She did, but reluctantly, leaning her face against his quidditch-toned shoulder.

His had passed her a silver and gold box, and the secret notion wasn't lost on her. Silver for Slytherin, gold for Gryffindor. It was a representation of them. Frankly, she was more than glad he hadn't used red and green – far too Christmasey a color combination, that. She opened the box delicately, smiling at its less-than-perfect wrapping. Though Scorpius was a perfectionist in his own right, he was horrid at wrapping gifts. Somehow, that made it all the more perfect. Her nimble fingers opened the box slowly, gasping at way lay inside. It was a silver pendant, a heart on a chain. She opened it with a bit of difficulty, marveling at the way the sapphire stones inside caught the light and lit up the heart. On the left side, the date was scribbled in, 14 July 2022. On the right was a picture of them after a quidditch game, his arms around her waist. At that moment, Rose could never remember being more grateful for wizarding photos. As, in the next instant, Scorpius turned her face toward his and they began to kiss rather passionately on the pitch. Needless to say, the locket was rather big.

Her eyes filled with happy tears, struck at the thoughtfulness of the gift, when it made her realize something: this locket had probably cost a good few dozen galleons. Galleons her own family couldn't afford to spend on him if they'd wanted to. Then, filled with an annoying swell of anger, she fought against the now less-than-happy tears.

She stood up abruptly, clutching the locket in her hand tightly.

Scorpius sensed her distress right away, and rose from his seat to question her about it.

_God, he meant so much to her._ And that was precisely why she couldn't let him see her like this. Briefly, she toyed with the idea of apparating – though she didn't have her license or hadn't taken any classes, she knew the basics and could manage it, probably, but decided against it in the end. She didn't need to go and splinch herself and end up costing her family more money.

"Rose?" He muttered, his hand squeezing her shoulder.

The touch stung. A tear or two escaped. "I… I have to go. I'll…" But she couldn't get out the rest of her sentence, and she fled the room. As she ran down the long hallway, she knew she heard steps coming after her. Privately, she was quite thankful. She knew it would have only hurt her more if he hadn't come after her. However, with that thought came the one that his legs were longer than hers. He would catch up to her quickly. Fleeing to her left, she meant to turn and dash into the fireplace as quickly as possible, when a soft, warm hand clutched her forearm. She looked up into the lovely face of Astoria Malfoy.

Clumsy stutters escaped her mouth as she tried to explain what she was doing and why she needed to leave, a childhood illness that had plagued her, when Astoria ran her hand down the length of Rose's auburn hair. Immediately, Rose stilled. Her father used to do that when she was younger and had had a nightmare.

"Scorpius," she heard the women's aristocratic-like voice say, "I'll handle this. Tell your father Rose and I went out for a while and that I'll be back." And just after, Rose felt a very unpleasant squeezing sensation around her middle. When she opened her brown eyes again, she found herself in a very green, very flower-filled field. It was then that she realized she had just gone through side long apparition for the first time.

"Rose, sweetie, what's the trouble? Scorpius didn't do anything, did he?" She questioned, eying the locket still clenched in her left hand, "You know I tried to raise that boy to be polite, but there's only so much I can do. He is still a Malfoy, you know…"

It took Rose a few seconds to realize Astoria made a joke. The forced laugh that bubbled from her through sounded more like a gurgle, and she fought to keep from choking and appearing even less put together.

Astoria tutted and patted her head. "Too early for jokes, I see."

Rose let Astoria lead her away through the field, her eyes glued to her trainers. It was only when she looked up a few minutes later did she realize that Astoria had been waiting for her to realize they were at a stone bench, and that she was waiting for her to sit down. She did so quickly, clumsily almost tripping over nothing.

Silence descended between them for a moment, and Rose got the impression she was giving her a few moments to collect herself. She tried desperately to do so, performing a simple spell, with a little difficulty, that got rid of the symptoms of crying. When the incantation went well, if a little too quiet, she was relieved to discover she'd found her voice again.

"Rose, if you don't mind my asking, what's the matter?"

The red haired girl debated. True, this was the mother of her boyfriend, but she had no obligation to tell her. Should she and Scorpius break up- The thought made her flinch violently. That wasn't an option. And if that wasn't going to happen, then why not tell her future mother-in-law her trouble?

She took a deep breath. "We've been having a bit of money trouble."

Astoria nodded gravely.

Rose stared at the woman for half a second, taking in her features – her soft, pale complexion, her dark hair, her green eyes – before abruptly deciding she was cross with her.

"What do you know about money troubles?" She demanded loudly, some small part of her in the back of her mind fearing for her sanity.

Astoria smiled wanly, patting her hand calmly. "Of course, I forget sometimes. I'm married to a Malfoy." Rose was struck to see her blush in the next moment. "That is, I don't forget that I'm married. I'm quite happily married; I love Draco. But, and I'll be the first to admit this, it's hard to remember I couldn't always buy what ever I wanted. You see, Rose, dear, I grew up poor."

Blue eyes – the same blue eyes Ron Weasley possessed – widened.

She nodded. "Oh, it's true. My father had a low-paying job at the ministry, and my mother never worked. She was a house wife. Oh, and I was convinced I'd end up marrying like my mother did – someone from my year at Hogwarts, with a low-paying job and grow old the same way she was and raise kids with a low-income salary, never working. But then Draco took an interest in me.

He told me once, why, but I can't really remember." She laughed shortly. "It was so ridiculous, I dismissed it immediately. Though he swears by it. But now, here I am, rich, with a son who I can give nearly everything he wants to. Can, mind you, not will. My son has never nor will ever be spoiled. Grandchildren? Well, that's a bit different, isn't it? The point is: I know what you're going through, Rose. I went through the same thing." She smiled. "I'm not like my parents, although I never did have a job."

Rose was shocked to discover that Mrs. Malfoy was still smiling at her, completely at ease with her – even sharing this most personal background of her life with her son's current girlfriend. Much to her horror, Rose felt new tears rise in her eyes. She hastily wiped them away.

"Mrs. Malfoy,"

"Astoria."

Rose smiled despite herself. "Astoria, thank you. You don't know how much it means to me. I… I don't know what's wrong with me. Scorpius has been wonderful, and he and I are doing great, but then my dad got fired from his job, and then suddenly we didn't have money. I couldn't go to Flourish and Blott's and I was mad. At them. For not being able to give me what I wanted. And then I started thinking that maybe Scorpius would find out, and then think I wasn't good enough for him because my family didn't have money. And, oh, _I know_ he isn't like that; I know he isn't! But I just get insecure sometimes and then I…" Rose wailed quietly as Astoria's arms came around her.

"He means a lot to you." Rose looked at her again, smiling at the motherly smile adorning her features.

"He means everything t o me." Astoria stroked her hair.

"Rose, don't worry. Scorpius doesn't think anything about your money situation. He's like Draco; he'll just want to take care of you. Now, you might not let him," Rose laughed a little, "but he so wants to."

Rose nodded, composing herself finally.

Astoria beamed. "Didn't you hear what I said about grandchildren?"

Rose blushed, entertaining the idea – however fleetingly – of blonde children running around amongst a sea of red.

"Scorpius talks in his sleep, you see."

When Astoria said no more, Rose found herself disappointed. However, she let the matter slide. She pulled out her wand again and performed another crying charm on herself.

She stood up and offered Astoria her arm to help her to her feet. "If you'd take us back, I'd be happy to help you with dinner."

"That would be very much appreciated, dear." Astoria's green eyes - different than her Uncle Harry's, but still beautiful – danced at her, and Rose hoped she looked as grateful as Astoria did pleased.

Dinner had gone smoothly, with Rose helping prepare and serve the main course, and not without noticing the look in Scorpius' enticing gray-blue eyes. She immediately understood. It was terribly _domestic_. She had kept up pleasant conversation with both Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy – much to her pleasure – and Scorpius' hand had been clasped in hers, when they'd both finished eating, for a good half an hour. And now, they were left alone.

Scorpius was gazing at her, and she, for her part, was doing everything she could to memorize his handsome face.

She broke the silence with a bit of effort, wondering that he would get bored of staring at her if she let him go at it long enough. "I'll never understand what you find so fascinating about me."

That did it.

He started at her and gathered her up in his arms, pinning her between his warm, hard body and the wall. He kissed her long and well, till they were both out breath, cradling his face between his hands. "Rose, you're beautiful."

She blushed, meeting his gaze again. "You almost make me believe so."

He smirked. "Well, then I'm not doing my job properly, am I?"

**Hello, all! I hope you enjoyed my first story on Checkmated! I know I'm excited about finally posting one. Thanks in advance to everyone who read! Please review and let me know what you think – any comment at all is welcome. (:**

**This should have at least one other chapter due up sometime before I start school again.**

**Until then, cheers!**

**Ikamaru**


	2. Chapter 2

**Foreword:  
Since there earlier has been some confusion, I'd like to point out a few things: Scorpius and Rose are not engaged – they're seventeen; Astoria and Scorpius merely provided comfort to Rosie when she couldn't get it from her own family – she wasn't abandoning them in any way; and lastly, Ron does have a job, now. **

Almost completely unabashed, as the second eldest Weasley granddaughter rarely was, she let out a soft moan of contentment when Scorpius placed a lingering kiss on her lips before moving down to suck luxuriously on a spot just to the left of her collarbone. A wave of relief went through her when her boyfriend didn't chide her or make fun of her for making such a primal noise, and instead growled and attacked her lips with his again. His hands were now beginning to wander: one had fisted itself firmly in her curly, dark red locks, and the other had inched down toward her chest, tracing the curve of her right breast hidden in a baggy t-shirt.

Scorpius broke contact for a moment, feeling the fabric of the shirt between his fingers, still so close to her right breast. He grinned almost greedily, his gray-blue eyes shining with adoration. "Is this mine?" he asked, the silk green Slytherin shirt that adorned her torso having ridden up just a little so that a bit of her navel was visible. But it was not without equilibrium: Rose had undone the first three buttons of his black button down.

She shivered pleasantly at the tone of his voice – sexy, deep, gruff. She could only grin in return for a moment. "I wore it with me to bed," Rose told him, smirking at the slight widening of his eyes at her flirty admission.

"Rose, fuck, do you even know what you're doing to me?" he more told her than asked her, voice still deep.

She pretended to look down for a moment, then met his gaze again. "If by that you mean is there something insistent on hard on my thigh, then yes," she quipped, the level of her voice low and husky.

Scorpius mock-glared at her for but a moment, then seemed to abruptly decide the whole thing simply made her sexier. Their lips met again deliciously, frantic with uncontrolled teenage hormonal lust.

Indeed, the two up-and-coming seventh years appeared to have seemingly forgotten the presence of the two parents down the hall. But they hardly ever bothered Scorpius, and they both would reason if questioned: his door was locked, and it was simply rude to enter a room unannounced. And the Malfoys were nothing if not polite. Scorpius and Rose would have been perfectly content to go at it all day – and they might have, had a rather surprising and reverberating thunk not had sounded from the sitting room.

Rose lifted her head, though Scorpius only moved to attack her neck again, seemingly oblivious. She giggled at his single-mindedness. "Scorpius, Scorp, Scorpius Malfoy!" She giggled again at his insistence, pushing on his chest lightly.

He drew back, smirking, but still reluctant. "What is it, Rose?"

"Didn't you hear that noise?" she asked, and, of their own free will, her hands began to roam the toned plains of his chest.

"Noise? What noise?"

She shoved him softly, her plan back firing again when he only smirked at her wider, as if he knew how sexy he was to her.

"There was a thump," she told him, only laughing aloud more when he waggled his eye brows. But she pretended to be abashed all the same. "Not that kind of thump!"

He laughed with her, very much aware that he was still leaning over her and that only the fact that she was sitting was keeping them from snogging again.

"Seriously." She smiled softly at him.

Finally, he shook his head. "I may have vaguely heard something. ... But, you know, I wouldn't have been altogether surprised if we'd made that noise."

Rose had the good grace to blush. "We should probably go check it out."

He only smirked. "If you really think that, why are your hands currently roaming my abdomen?"

She made a frustrated sound. "These bloody things have a mind of their own."

Again, Scorpius waggled his eyebrows.

With effort, she managed to find the common sense to push on his chest again. This time he got off her.

"Fine, fine," he muttered, slipping an arm easily over her shoulders once they were both standing, "but you owe me."

"And I can't wait to pay," she promised him, and it took nearly all of her self-control to unlock his bedroom door and go in search of the source of that noise.

They were walking leisurely down the hall, nearly to the living room, when Ron Weasley's voice boomed at them from down the hall.

"Rose Hermione Wealsey, get your arse out here now!"

Rose cringed, exchanging a look of teenage trepidation with Scorpius. Bravely, the two made their way to where the parents were – including Hermione Weasley, as well.

Hermione looked up from her place sitting stiffly on one of the white leather couches, her gaze disapproving.

"Dad, Mum?" she inquired, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What's the matter?"

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?" her father yelled again, his fists clenched. "Snogging some boy in his bedroom with the door closed?"

Rose could only stare at her father, wondering if he was being serious.  
Hermione sighed. "Rose, come with us. You're coming home right now and we're going to talk about this."

Rose felt herself frown. "Talk about what?"

"Your blatant lack of manners and disregard of other people's homes."

Rose flinched at her mother's frank words, but only felt her temper rise.  
Scorpius removed his arm from around her shoulders and linked their fingers, bravely meeting Ron's deadly gaze as he watched his hand move.

Rose chanced a glance at her boyfriend's face; he looked just as confused as she felt.

Suddenly, the couple was very much aware of the elder Malfoys.  
Draco had his arms crossed and was carefully maintaining a neutral expression, though Rose spotted the same downward tilt of his eyebrows Scorpius got when he was annoyed, while Astoria looked as if she had just made a giant blunder, and was trying to convey her apologies with quick words.

"Please, Hermione, Ron, we should both discuss this. We're both directly involved her. They're our children, they deserve to be heard out and -"

But Rose's father was having nothing of it. "The hell they do! My daughter was just in your son's room with the door closed, snogging a Malfoy!"

She felt Scorpius tense beside her even as she shouted, "Dad!" in a warning tone, thoroughly appalled with her parents' behavior. Her voice was eerily similar to Hermoine's when her mum was younger and disapproved of Ron's shouting.

Draco appeared to be at the end of his rope. "Don't you yell at my wife, Weasley!" Silently, Rose marveled at how they could make one another's last names sound like ugly curses.

Hermione rose to her feet as well, taking Ron's arm.

For a moment, Rose thought she was saved.

"Rose, come with us. You're going home now. You aren't to see Scorpius anymore." The coldness in her voice iced the room.

Mild-mannered Astoria finally let her temper rise to the surface. "Now you hold on a moment! My son has done nothing wrong! Nor has Rose, for that matter!"

Rose's gaze flickered to Astoria Malfoy, and she felt a swell of affection for the woman. "Mum, what's this all about? We've done nothing wrong –"

"Rose, come over here – now. We're going home." Her father's voice was scary, and for the first time she found six foot six Auror Ronald Weasley intimidating.

But she didn't move.

She looked at Scorpius again, and knew he was conflicted. On the one hand, they really hadn't done anything wrong and he wanted to stand up for her, but then his loathe of conflict came into play.

Draco looked furious, his stance protective, an inch between him and Mrs. Malfoy.

Astoria looked stricken, insulted, and near angry tears.

Both her own parents looked ready to explode.

She flinched, and clutching Scorpius' hand tightly, attempted to ready herself for her parents' eminent explosion.

As it would happen, neither of the adult Weasleys broke the tense silence.

"Scorpius, you are not to see Rose any longer!"

"But Dad!" Scorpius protested loudly.

"Quiet, boy! As long as you live under my roof, you shall not associate with the likes of that which spawn from such _uncivilized people_!"

Then Rose wasn't quite sure what was happening. One moment, she was standing in the sitting room, shell-shocked, frozen to her spot, the breath knocked out of her by the force of Mr. Malfoy's words, and then the next she was flying, spinning and twirling in forever circles, certain of only Scorpius' hand in hers.

She opened her eyes to a great, vast hillside with many flowers, and a cabin that overlooked a lake. Rose turned to face her boyfriend. "Scorpius?"

He dropped her hand and a walked a few paces away. "I couldn't take them fighting anymore." He told her quietly.

She stopped forward and hugged him from behind, acting on instinct. "They don't understand."

He turned abruptly and pulled her to him. "No, they don't."

Rose appreciated the gesture, but she could feel his anger. She looked up into his eyes, placing a hand on his cheek. His own hand went over hers. They locked gazes for a moment. Rose thought about probing more about his anger, but decided she would save that for later. "Where are we?" she asked instead.

"Our winter cabin." He told her. "It's in Spain. They won't think to look for us here for a while. We have food, attendants, and I can get you anything you want." He smiled at her, and Rose saw the gratefulness in his gaze.

"It's perfect." She told him.

He smiled at her. "I'm so glad Dad taught me how to apparate." He smirked. "Even though it's technically not allowed, he's got some connections at the Ministry."

She shook her head, intertwining their fingers and walking toward the house. "They'll come to their senses. Mum always does. She'll convince Dad."

"Mum'll calm down, then Dad won't be able to stay mad after she isn't."

Rose nodded. "Our mums and they influence they have over our dads."

He shook his head. "It must be a married couple thing."

She smirked. "Now, Scorp, how does that work, since I can make you do whatever I want?"

He looked dumbfounded for a moment, and then the lazy smirk returned. "Because we'll get married one day, of course." He told her offhandedly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Rose felt her nest of butterflies cocoon to life and start fluttering around in her stomach.

He opened the door for her, and, not for the umpteenth time, did Rose wonder how she got such a perfect, gentlemanly guy.

They had dinner with what they found in the fridge, and soon it was bedtime. They'd been relaxing on the couch when Rose had heaved such a huge yawn, with an adorable little noise, Scorpius said, that he had declared it was time for bed. He led her down the hall, pointing to the master bedroom. "You can sleep in here." He told her. "I'll take this room; I usually have it, anyway." Rose nodded, then said her good night to him and went to her new room. She explored it for a few moments, washing up in its attached bathroom, and then made to get in bed.

Abruptly, Rose noticed the open window. Waving her wand, she shut and locked it, but found she didn't feel safe. For one thing, there was this weird tapping noise she didn't at all like, there were no lights on for miles (as they were rather in the middle of nowhere) and she was rapidly becoming less and less comfortable. Never mind that she was perhaps the most gifted Charms student since Professor Flitwick himself, she was always going to be afraid of the dark.

Steeling her resolve, she gathered her wand and practically sprinted to Scorpius' room – if she moved fast enough, no one could see her. She pushed open the door, wincing as it creaked, and closed it behind her. Even though Scorpius' room looked quite the same as his parents', she felt much safer here. She smiled at his dozing form.

Tip-toeing over to him, she poked him once. Twice, then three times. Finally, she shoved him hard with her hand on his shoulder and he woke up. "Rose?" He muttered, blinking sleepily.

She smiled. "Hey." After standing there for several slightly awkward minutes, she spoke again. "Er… Budge over." Then flashed him a grin.

He smirked back and made room for her. She crawled into his bed, then let out a very contented sigh when he pulled her close against him, her back to his front, and placed an arm over her waist. He breathed in the scent of her, murmuring something she didn't quite catch against her neck.

"Hmmm?" She called sleepily, much more tired now that she felt safe.

"I said this is perfect." He told her, his own voice sounding husky with sleep.

"It really is." She concurred.

"Good night, Scorpius."

"Good night, Rose."

And, at least for now, everything was okay. With Scorpius by her side, Rose was certain she could weather any storm and every familial drama her crazy family would throw her way.

**Hope you guys enjoyed all the fluff! (: Say good bye to it, because next chapter it won't be there much. Hello, drama.**

**I love Scorpius and Rose to death, you guys. Feel free to comment on the way I act them, please. Any comments are appreciated. ~**

**10 Dec. 2010**


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